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The Day I Was Fired by Chevy Chase
In 1991, I worked on the movie Memoirs of an Invisible Man. I was a lowly production assistant accruing hours toward a career as an Assistant Director. The film was a high-concept caper starring Chevy Chase and Daryl Hannah, directed by John Carpenter. It was based on a popular novel about a stockbroker who becomes invisible after a freak accident. The project was a risky endeavor for Chase who was trying to make the shift from comedy to more serious roles.
Much of the film was shot in San Francisco. My job was to implement crowd control as determined by the First Assistant Director. One week into production the schedule called for a chaotic day of shooting at Huntington Park across the street from the Mark Hopkins Hotel. The location was a hub of tourist traffic including the busiest cable car route in the city. This meant hordes of tourists or “roaches” as the First AD liked to call them.
The primary scene that day involved Chase crossing a busy street and walking through a small park. He wore a blue jumpsuit allowing the special effects house Industrial Light & Magic to implement an invisibility illusion. (These were the days of “blue screen” instead of “green screen.”) He also wore blue contact lenses so his eyes appeared invisible as if he had empty eye sockets. Chase’s eyes had to be numbed with sedatives prior to applying the contacts. This made him…
